The Bordeaux man has adapted the synth styles of the 80s, rinsing them with contemporary machines and modern day insecurities.
I’ve never been great at organizing my records. Some people have that fastidious nature of each and everything in its place; their vinyl collection proudly categorized then sub-categorized, each EP just a moment of cursory spin flicking away from being found. Mine is not like this.
Genres are represented. House, Techno, Electro, Synth on my wilting shelving unit. But, honestly, everything is topsy-turvy. True 12”s can be found, but they can also get lost in an ocean of disorganisation. I tend to group labels within genre brackets. But I’m not very good with my groupings. Most labels like to slide in and out of styles, shifting and changing. Switzerland’s Lux Rec finds itself on my House Shelf, with many of their artists exploring the Chicago sound and its plethora of mutations. But the label has also seen musicians like Alessandro Parisi and Murphy Jax present vivid soundtracks alongside moody electronics. Yet, they too live on my House Shelf (although at the end of it.) But with Lux’s latest 12”, from France’s Cold Colors, I’m going to have to rethink the Zurich label’s positioning on my aging IKEA expedit.
Cold Colors, aka Frédérick Barbe, hails from Bordeux and, to date, has clocked up one release, a split tape with the excellent Xiu for Vocoder Tapes. Barbe is part of the new wave of young artists taking up, well, New Wave; a new genre venture for Lux. “Les Ombres” opens the 12”. Crisp, snapping, beats are countered by lilting melodies and cascading keys. Vocals, en français, are distant and lonesome, sugared machine sounds countered by torn emotions. Many of the darker moments that characterize Synth Wave aren’t present on Dans Le Vide. Sorrow is balanced with possibility. A latent sadness is present, but one of heartbreak rather than broken souls. “Vie Nocturne” is a pad rich piece, crashing beats diluted by flowing harmonies and harrowing strings. There’s a wonderful musicality across the EP, a fragility teases out bruised feeling. “Voyager Immobile” melts chords, a broad bed of bass giving rise to sweeping notes of bittersweet hope. “La Solitude” is the curtain close. Claps and snares supporting haunting notes for a sullen and isolated end.
Cold Colors mark quite a shift for Lux Rec. The Bordeaux man has adapted the synth styles of the 80s, rinsing them with contemporary machines and modern day insecurities. An EP with a real freshness, an analogue optimism, and an innocence coupled by a superb delicateness of touch.
Dans Le Vide is available on Lux Rec.
